This invention relates to a solar soil pasteurizing apparatus and, more particularly, to such apparatus which may be transported to the site where the soil is to be used and which will pasteurize a useful quantity of soil within a reasonable period of time.
While the use of solar energy for many purposes has not yet become feasible, largely due to the high capital costs involved and the sporadic availability of the energy source, the present invention makes use of solar energy for the effective and efficient pasteurizing of soil, an operation which is not efficiently accomplished by other means, particularly any such means readily available to the domestic gardener.
Amateur gardeners will frequently attempt to pasteurize a bulk of soil by heating it in a kitchen oven. This is often futile in that the outer layers may be overheated to a degree which will impair fertility, while the center never reaches a temperature adequate to effect the desired pasteurization unless the heating takes place over a very prolonged period. This flows from the fact that soil is a poor diffuser of heat and is, in fact, a rather good thermal insulator. The amount of energy thus necessary to accomplish such a long-term heating is substantial and, further, the soil must be transported to the source of heat.
Among the several objects of the present invention may be noted the provision of apparatus for pasteurizing soil; the provision of such apparatus which may be utilized at the site where the soil will be used; the provision of such apparatus which will pasteurize soil using solar energy; the provision of such apparatus which will pasteurize a significant quantity of soil in a convenient time interval; and the provision of such apparatus which is of relatively simple and inexpensive construction.